A dog owner has been forced to pay thousands of pounds for not picking up his pet’s poo.

Carl Davies, who lived at Royal Sands, took his dog for a walk on the Beach Lawns in Weston on March 5, 6 and 8 and on all three occasions, failed to pick up the mess the animal left behind.

The matter was brought to the attention of North Somerset Council after a neighbour passing by saw Davies walking his dog on a number of occasions and failing to pick up after it.

He filmed Davies’ actions and he handed over the evidence to the council.

The authority handed the 50-year-old a fixed penalty notice but he refused to pay the fine, which saw him brought before the courts last week.

District Judge David Taylor found Davies guilty of all counts following lengthy legal arguments about the admissibility of the video evidence and a two-day trial at North Somerset Courthouse on January 28-29,

The court was told Davies, who has since moved to Byron Hill Road in London, admitted in a statement the ‘dog is mine, dog did poo’ but opted to take the case to trial to argue the footage and the witness’ reliability should be questioned.

Davies’ argued the neighbour’s actions were an invasion of his right to privacy – but Judge Taylor rejected the argument.

He also claimed the neighbour was an agent of the council – but this too was proven to be incorrect.

Judge Taylor ordered Davies to pay £100 in fines for each of the three charges of failing to comply with a public spaces protection order.

Davies was also ordered to pay £30 in victim surcharge and £3,873 in legal costs to the local authority – totalling £4,203.

Cllr Peter Bryant, North Somerset’s executive member for environment, was ‘delighted’ with the outcome of last week’s prosecution.

He said: “My thanks to the council’s officers for gathering the evidence and prosecuting the case.

“Thanks too to the resident who helped us secure the conviction.

“Mr Davies showed scant regard for others when he failed to pick up after his dog and he has had to pay a heavy price for his anti-social behaviour.

“This conviction comes as a strong and powerful warning to other irresponsible dog owners.”